How does blogging fit into a fieldwork program?

Fieldwork experience offers students the opportunity to integrate their academic knowledge into the practical environment. Many mistakes are often made in the practical environment because individuals are applying theory to practice. Quite often theory in its ideal form does not fit with the less than ideal practical environment. Here is a clinical example:

A student learns all about how to assess a patient with a Rotator Cuff injury. A variety of key tests are learned and practiced with normal subjects at University. When the student experiences a real client with an acute rotator cuff injury, they find that many of the tests they learned cannot be applied because the patient has too much pain. Attempts to apply the tests fail, the student gets frustrated because they can't properly diagnose the client and the patient has increased pain from being handled too much. By reflecting on this experience the student learns that perhaps in an acute state these tests are inappropriate and other intervention is needed. By blogging this experience, other peers who have seen patients with a more chronic rotator cuff condition share their experiences, and note that the tests become more appropriate as pain subsides. Everyone learns because the initial blog invokes thinking and sharing of what knows. This information helps to inform others who do not have this insight yet. Learning happens all around and clinical reasoning, and hopefully performance, improves.

By blogging thoughts and challenges about difficult events in professional practice experience, students and new graduates in the health sciences, law, engineering, education etc... can use their peers and community of practice to deepen their insights about professional practice. The movement towards competency is accelerated and errors in professional reasoning can be minimised. It all aligns with notions of social learning theory, cognitive development theory and constructivist learning theory. Use others to deepen your understanding of your own practice.

This takes trust and an element of self -disclosure. Creating this trust takes time.